The present invention relates to a radio communication device and a message display method for a radio communication device, and in particular, to a radio communication device and a message display method for a radio communication device by which received and stored information such as messages can be displayed to the user at high speed.
1. Description of the Prior Art
These days, radio communication systems or radio communication services employing radio selective calling receivers (called pagers, pocket bells, etc.) as handy radio communication devices are prevailing. Such radio selective calling receivers are being more and more required further improved operability or convenience of operation.
In xe2x80x9ca radio selective calling receiver and a control method thereofxe2x80x9d disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.HEI9-215026, a radio selective calling receiver which can receive calls to two or more selective calling numbers is designed to be able to successively display received messages which have been sent to one of its selective calling numbers. For example, received messages which have been sent to a particular selective calling number that is used by the user for business (or for private use) are selected from the received messages and displayed on a display section successively, thereby the operability and the convenience of the user are improved. The radio selective calling receiver disclosed in the document stores each message, a reception address for indicating to which selective calling number the message has been sent, and reception time information indicating the time when the message was received, thereby the message display with respect to a particular selective calling number can be executed.
A xe2x80x9cselective calling receiverxe2x80x9d disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.HEI2-152334 is provided with a second ROM (an IC card) which is detachable/attachable to the body of the selective calling receiver for storing a plurality of predetermined messages. The selective calling receiver receives a signal including 12-bit data indicating a selective calling number and 4-bit data indicating a message number, therefore, 16 types of messages can generally be displayed by the selective calling receiver depending on the message number (4 bits). When the selective calling number in the received signal matched that of the selective calling receiver, the selective calling receiver makes a beep for informing the user of the reception of a call, and generally displays one of 16 predetermined messages (stored in a first ROM) corresponding to the message number. Meanwhile, the second ROM stores 96 (16xc3x976) predetermined messages (one message number corresponds to 6 predetermined messages corresponding to 6 time zones), and when the second ROM is connected to the body, the selective calling receiver executes message display depending on the reception time (a time zone in which the message was received) and the message number, thereby the number of displayable messages can be increased in comparison with the number of possible message numbers included in the signal.
A xe2x80x9cselective calling receiver provided with display functionsxe2x80x9d disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.HEI3-89639, which receives, stores and displays messages, can let the user know whether a message displayed on its display section is a message received today or not, by displaying the number of days which have elapsed since the reception of the message, along with the message. A xe2x80x9cpaging receiver provided with display functionsxe2x80x9d disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No.HEI2-90559 can also let the user know whether a message displayed on the display section is a today""s message or not, by displaying the message with reception time information if the message is a today""s message, and displaying the message with reception date information if the message is not a today""s message.
A xe2x80x9cselective calling receiverxe2x80x9d disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.HEI5-102915 does not inform the user of reception of a call if the present time (the time when the call is received) is within a predetermined call rejection time period, and informs the user of the call reception after the call rejection time period ended.
In a xe2x80x9cradio selective calling receiverxe2x80x9d disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.HEI10-42329, two or more time periods (a first time period 09:00xcx9c16:59 and a second time period 17:00xcx9c08:59, for example) can be set, and when the user requested display of received messages, display depending on the present time (the time when the user requested the message display) is executed. For example, in the case where the user requested display of received messages on 10:00 which is included in the first time period, the radio selective calling receiver successively reads out each received message (which has been stored in its memory section in order of reception) from the memory section, judges whether the reception time of the message belongs to the first time period (for example), displays the message on its display section if the reception time of the message belongs to the first time period, and thereby messages which have been received during the first time period are successively displayed first in order of reception. Thereafter, messages which have been received during the second time period are successively displayed on the display section in order of reception in similar way. On the other hand, in the case where the user requested display of received messages on 19:00 which is included in the second time period, messages which have been received during the second time period are successively displayed first in order of reception, and thereafter messages which have been received during the first time period are successively displayed in order of reception.
The above radio selective calling receiver can select messages which have been received during one of the predetermined time periods and successively display the selected messages, depending on when the user requested message display. Therefore, the user can see selected messages which have been received during a predetermined time period that corresponds to the time when the user made the message display request.
However, in the radio selective calling receiver, judgment on whether each message has been received during a predetermined time period or not has to be executed on every reading of a message, and thus reading out and displaying of the messages which have been received during a fixed time period can not been executed very quickly.
It is therefore the primary object of the present invention to provide a radio communication device which is provided with functions for receiving messages via radio and displaying the messages, by which messages which have been received during a fixed time period can be displayed to the user at high speed.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a message display method for a radio communication device which is provided with functions for receiving messages via radio and displaying the messages, by which messages which have been received during a fixed time period can be displayed to the user at high speed.
In accordance with a 1st aspect of the present invention, there is provided a radio reception means, a memory means, a time period message memory means, a display means, an input means and a control means. The radio reception means receives a selective calling signal via an antenna and extracts a message that has been addressed to the radio communication device from the selective calling signal. The memory means stores the messages received and extracted by the radio reception means and information concerning the messages. The time period message memory means is provided to the memory means for storing information concerning messages which have been received during a fixed time period. The display means displays information such as the messages which have been stored in the memory means. The input means lets the user input information such as a selection concerning whether the user intends to let the display means display all the messages which have been stored in the memory means or the messages which have been received during the fixed time period. The control means executes control on the components of the radio communication device such as display of the messages on the display means. The control means reads out the messages which have been received during the fixed time period from the memory means using the information stored in the time period message memory means and displays the messages on the display means if the user intended to let the display means display the messages which have been received during the fixed time period
In accordance with a 2nd aspect of the present invention, in the 1st aspect, the control means executes the display of the messages on the display means according to a first display operation for displaying the messages from the oldest message or a second display operation for displaying the messages from the newest message.
In accordance with a 3rd aspect of the present invention, in the 1st aspect, the control means includes a function operation setting means, a time control means, a display control means and a message memory management means. The function operation setting means sets functions of the radio communication device such as enable/disable of the function for displaying the messages which have been received during the fixed time period, according to the information inputted via the input means. The time control means updates and outputs the time of day to be used for indicating the reception time of each message. The display control means executes control of the display of messages on the display means. The message memory management means executes management of storage and reading of the received messages in the memory means. The message memory management means stores information concerning a received message in the time period message memory means if the reception time of the received message belongs to the fixed time period.
In accordance with a 4th aspect of the present invention, in the 3rd aspect, the memory means includes a message memory means, an all messages registered memory area pointer means, a time period messages registered memory area pointer means and a time period message display function setting register means. The message memory means includes a plurality of message memory areas corresponding to memory management numbers. Each of the message memory areas can store one of the received messages, a reception address of the message, reception date/time data of the message, a first directory information to be used for indicating the order of reception of all the received messages, and a second directory information to be used for indicating the order of reception of the messages which have been received during the fixed time period. The all messages registered memory area pointer means stores a memory management number (NEW) of one of the message memory areas that stores the newest message in all the received messages stored in the message memory means and/or a memory management number (OLD) of one of the message memory areas that stores the oldest message in all the received messages stored in the message memory means. The time period messages registered memory area pointer means stores a memory management number (NEW) of one of the message memory areas that stores the newest message in the messages which have been received during the fixed time period and stored in the message memory means and/or a memory management number (OLD) of one of the message memory areas that stores the oldest message in the messages which have been received during the fixed time period and stored in the message memory means. The time period message display function setting register means stores the enable/disable of the function for displaying the messages which have been received during the fixed time period, and one or more boundary times for defining the fixed time period.
In accordance with a 5th aspect of the present invention, in the 4th aspect, the message memory management means executes reading of messages to be displayed on the display means from the message memory means, by referring first to the memory management number (NEW/OLD) stored in the time period messages registered memory area pointer means or the all messages registered memory area pointer means depending on the enable/disable of the function stored in the time period message display function setting register means, reading out the first message to be displayed from a message memory area of the message memory means designated by the memory management number (NEW/OLD), and thereafter successively reading out messages from the message memory means by referring to the second directory information or the first directory information depending on the enable/disable of the function.
In accordance with a 6th aspect of the present invention, in the 4th aspect, the first directory information stored in a message memory area storing a particular message includes the first NEXT information and the first BACK information. The first NEXT information indicates the memory management number of one of the message memory areas that stores a message that was received just before the particular message, and the first BACK information indicates the memory management number of one of the message memory areas that stores a message that was received just after the particular message. The second directory information stored in a message memory area storing a particular message includes the second NEXT information and the second BACK information. The second NEXT information indicates the memory management number of one of the message memory areas that stores one of the messages which have been received during the fixed time period that was received before the particular message, and the second BACK information indicates the memory management number of one of the message memory areas that stores one of the messages which have been received during the fixed time period that was received after the particular message.
In accordance with a 7th aspect of the present invention, in the 6th aspect, the message memory management means executes reading of messages to be displayed on the display means from the message memory means, by referring first to the memory management number (NEW/OLD) stored in the time period messages registered memory area pointer means or the all messages registered memory area pointer means depending on the enable/disable of the function stored in the time period message display function setting register means, reading out the first message to be displayed from a message memory area of the message memory means designated by the memory management number (NEW/OLD), and thereafter successively reading out messages from the message memory means by referring to the NEXT information or the BACK information of the second directory information or the first directory information depending on the enable/disable of the function.
In accordance with an 8th aspect of the present invention, in the 4th aspect, the message memory management means judges whether an unregistered message memory area exists in the message memory means or not when the message memory management means stores a received message in the message memory means, and releases a message memory area of the message memory means and changes the message memory area into an unregistered message memory area if no unregistered message memory area existed in the message memory means.
In accordance with a 9th aspect of the present invention, in the 4th aspect, the control means further includes a time match judgment means. The time match judgment means judges whether or not the time of day updated and outputted by the time control means matches a specific boundary time stored in the time period message display function setting register means, and lets the message memory management means clear the second directory information and start new relating using new second directory information if the time of day matched the specific boundary time.
In accordance with a 10th aspect of the present invention, in the 4th aspect, the time period message display function setting register means stores a boundary time so as to define the fixed time period as a time period from the boundary time to 24 hours after the time period.
In accordance with an 11th aspect of the present invention, in the 4th aspect, the time period message display function setting register means stores two boundary times so as to define the fixed time period as a time period between the two boundary times.
In accordance with a 12th aspect of the present invention, in the 5th aspect, the messages read out from the message memory means by the message memory management means are displayed on the display means at the same time.
In accordance with a 13th aspect of the present invention, in the 5th aspect, the message read out from the message memory means by the message memory management means is displayed on the display means with the reception date/time data of the message.
In accordance with a 14th aspect of the present invention, in the 5th aspect, the message read out from the message memory means by the message memory management means is displayed on the display means with the reception address and the reception date/time data of the message.
In accordance with a 15th aspect of the present invention, in the 3rd aspect, a general message memory means of the memory means stores the messages received and extracted by the radio reception means in order of reception, and the time period message memory means stores the messages received during the fixed time period in order of reception, as the information concerning the messages which have been received during the fixed time period.
In accordance with a 16th aspect of the present invention, in the 15th aspect, the message memory management means executes reading of messages to be displayed on the display means, by successively reading out the messages which have been received during the fixed time period and stored in the time period message memory means or the received messages stored in the general message memory means depending on the enable/disable of the function for displaying the messages which have been received during the fixed time period which has been set by the function operation setting means.
In accordance with a 17th aspect of the present invention, in the 15th aspect, the control means further includes a time match judgment means. The time match judgment means judges whether or not the time of day updated and outputted by the time control means matches a specific boundary time, and lets the message memory management means initialize the time period message memory means if the time of day matched the specific boundary time.
In accordance with an 18th aspect of the present invention, in the 15th aspect, the fixed time period is a time period from a boundary time to 24 hours after the time period.
In accordance with a 19th aspect of the present invention, in the 15th aspect, the fixed time period is a time period between two boundary times.
In accordance with a 20th aspect of the present invention, in the 16th aspect, the messages read out from the time period message memory means or the general message memory means by the message memory management means are displayed on the display means at the same time.
In accordance with a 21st aspect of the present invention, in the 1st aspect, two or more time period message memory means are provided so that the user can set two or more types of fixed time periods and make a selection from display modes corresponding to each of the time periods.
In accordance with a 22nd aspect of the present invention, in the 1st aspect, the radio communication device further comprises an informing means for informing the user of the reception of the message by making a beep, blinking, etc.
In accordance with a 23rd aspect of the present invention, in the 1st aspect, the radio communication device is a radio selective calling receiver such as a pager.
In accordance with a 24th aspect of the present invention, there is provided a message display method for a radio communication device which is provided with functions for receiving messages via radio and displaying the received messages. The message display method comprises a radio reception step, a memory step, a time period message memory step, a display step, an input step, a control step and a time range message display step. In the radio reception step, a radio reception means receives a selective calling signal via an antenna and extracts a message that has been addressed to the radio communication device from the selective calling signal. In the memory step, a memory means stores the message received and extracted in the radio reception step and information concerning the message. In the time period message memory step, a time period message memory means which is provided to the memory means stores information concerning the message received and extracted in the radio reception step, if the message has been received during a fixed time period. In the display step, a display means displays information such as the messages which have been stored in the memory means. In the input step, an input means lets the user input information such as a selection concerning whether the user intends to let the display means display all the messages which have been stored in the memory means or the messages which have been received during the fixed time period. In the control step, a control means executes control on the components of the radio communication device such as display of the messages on the display means. The time range message display step is included in the control step. In the time range message display step, the control means reads out the messages which have been received during the fixed time period from the memory means using the information stored in the time period message memory means and displays the messages on the display means if the user intended in the input step to let the display means display the messages which have been received during the fixed time period
In accordance with a 25th aspect of the present invention, in the 24th aspect, the control means executes the display of the messages on the display means according to a first display operation for displaying the messages from the oldest message or a second display operation for displaying the messages from the newest message.
In accordance with a 26th aspect of the present invention, in the 24th aspect, the control step executed by the control means includes a function operation setting step, a time control step, a display control step and a message memory management step. In the function operation setting step, a function operation setting means of the control means sets functions of the radio communication device such as enable/disable of the function for displaying the messages which have been received during the fixed time period, according to the information inputted in the input step via the input means. In the time control step, a time control means of the control means updates and outputs the time of day to be used for indicating the reception time of each message. In the display control step, a display control means of the control means executes control of the display of messages on the display means. In the message memory management step, a message memory management means of the control means executes management of storage and reading of the received messages in the memory means. The message memory management means stores information concerning a received message in the time period message memory means if the reception time of the received message belongs to the fixed time period.
In accordance with a 27th aspect of the present invention, in the 26th aspect, the memory means for executing the memory step includes a message memory means, an all messages registered memory area pointer means, a time period messages registered memory area pointer means and a time period message display function setting register means. The message memory means includes a plurality of message memory areas corresponding to memory management numbers. Each of the memory areas can store one of the received messages, a reception address of the message, reception date/time data of the message, a first directory information to be used for indicating the order of reception of all the received messages, and a second directory information to be used for indicating the order of reception of the messages which have been received during the fixed time period. The all messages registered memory area pointer means stores a memory management number (NEW) of one of the message memory areas that stores the newest message in all the received messages stored in the message memory means and/or a memory management number (OLD) of one of the message memory areas that stores the oldest message in all the received messages stored in the message memory means. The time period messages registered memory area pointer means stores a memory management number (NEW) of one of the message memory areas that stores the newest message in the messages which have been received during the fixed time period and stored in the message memory means and/or a memory management number (OLD) of one of the message memory areas that stores the oldest message in the messages which have been received during the fixed time period and stored in the message memory means. The time period message display function setting register means stores the enable/disable of the function for displaying the messages which have been received during the fixed time period, and one or more boundary times for defining the fixed time period.
In accordance with a 28th aspect of the present invention, in the 27th aspect, reading of messages to be displayed on the display means from the message memory means in the message memory management step is executed by the message memory management means, by referring first to the memory management number (NEW/OLD) stored in the time period messages registered memory area pointer means or the all messages registered memory area pointer means depending on the enable/disable of the function stored in the time period message display function setting register means, reading out the first message to be displayed from a message memory area of the message memory means designated by the memory management number (NEW/OLD), and thereafter successively reading out messages from the message memory means by referring to the second directory information or the first directory information depending on the enable/disable of the function.
In accordance with a 29th aspect of the present invention, in the 27th aspect, the first directory information stored in a message memory area storing a particular message includes the first NEXT information and the first BACK information. The first NEXT information indicates the memory management number of one of the message memory areas that stores a message that was received just before the particular message, and the first BACK information indicates the memory management number of one of the message memory areas that stores a message that was received just after the particular message. The second directory information stored in a message memory area storing a particular message includes the second NEXT information and the second BACK information. The second NEXT information indicates the memory management number of one of the message memory areas that stores one of the messages which have been received during the fixed time period that was received before the particular message, and the second BACK information indicates the memory management number of one of the message memory areas that stores one of the messages which have been received during the fixed time period that was received after the particular message.
In accordance with a 30th aspect of the present invention, in the 29th aspect, reading of messages to be displayed on the display means from the message memory means in the message memory management step is executed by the message memory management means, by referring first to the memory management number (NEW/OLD) stored in the time period messages registered memory area pointer means or the all messages registered memory area pointer means depending on the enable/disable of the function stored in the time period message display function setting register means, reading out the first message to be displayed from a message memory area of the message memory means designated by the memory management number (NEW/OLD), and thereafter successively reading out messages from the message memory means by referring to the NEXT information or the BACK information of the second directory information or the first directory information depending on the enable/disable of the function.
In accordance with a 31st aspect of the present invention, in the 27th aspect, the message memory management means judges whether an unregistered message memory area exists in the message memory means or not when the message memory management means stores a received message in the message memory means, and releases a message memory area of the message memory means and changes the message memory area into an unregistered message memory area if no unregistered message memory area existed in the message memory means.
In accordance with a 32nd aspect of the present invention, in the 27th aspect, the control step executed by the control means further includes a time match judgment step. In the time match judgment step, a time match judgment means of the control means judges whether or not the time of day updated and outputted by the time control means in the time control step matches a specific boundary time stored in the time period message display function setting register means, and lets the message memory management means clear the second directory information and start new relating using new second directory information if the time of day matched the specific boundary time.
In accordance with a 33rd aspect of the present invention, in the 27th aspect, a boundary for defining the fixed time period as a time period from the boundary time to 24 hours after the time period is stored in the time period message display function setting register means.
In accordance with a 34th aspect of the present invention, in the 27th aspect, two boundary times for defining the fixed time period as a time period between the two boundary times are stored in the time period message display function setting register means.
In accordance with a 35th aspect of the present invention, in the 28th aspect, the messages read out from the message memory means by the message memory management means are displayed on the display means at the same time.
In accordance with a 36th aspect of the present invention, in the 28th aspect, the message read out from the message memory means by the message memory management means is displayed on the display means with the reception date/time data of the message.
In accordance with a 37th aspect of the present invention, in the 28th aspect, the message read out from the message memory means by the message memory management means is displayed on the display means with the reception address and the reception date/time data of the message.
In accordance with a 38th aspect of the present invention, in the 26th aspect, the messages received and extracted by the radio reception means in the radio reception step are stored in a general message memory means of the memory means in order of reception, and the messages received during the fixed time period are stored in the time period message memory means in order of reception, as the information concerning the messages which have been received during the fixed time period.
In accordance with a 39th aspect of the present invention, in the 38th aspect, reading of messages to be displayed on the display means is executed in the message memory management step by the message memory management means, by successively reading out the messages which have been received during the fixed time period and stored in the time period message memory means or the received messages stored in the general message memory means depending on the enable/disable of the function for displaying the messages which have been received during the fixed time period which has been set in the function operation setting step.
In accordance with a 40th aspect of the present invention, in the 38th aspect, the control step executed by the control means further includes a time match judgment step. In the time match judgment step, a time match judgment means of the control means judges whether or not the time of day updated and outputted by the time control means in the time control step matches a specific boundary time, and lets the message memory management means initialize the time period message memory means if the time of day matched the specific boundary time.
In accordance with a 41st aspect of the present invention, in the 38th aspect, the fixed time period is a time period from a boundary time to 24 hours after the time period.
In accordance with a 42nd aspect of the present invention, in the 38th aspect, the fixed time period is a time period between two boundary times.
In accordance with a 43rd aspect of the present invention, in the 39th aspect, the messages read out from the time period message memory means or the general message memory means by the message memory management means are displayed on the display means at the same time.
In accordance with a 44th aspect of the present invention, in the 24th aspect, two or more time period message memory means are provided for the time period message memory step so that the user can set two or more types of fixed time periods and make a selection from display modes corresponding to each of the time periods.
In accordance with a 45th aspect of the present invention, in the 24th aspect, the message display method further comprises an informing step in which an informing means informs the user of the reception of the message by making a beep, blinking, etc.
In accordance with a 46th aspect of the present invention, in the 24th aspect, the radio communication device is a radio selective calling receiver such as a pager.